Stephen G. Sanko, MD

Stephen Sanko is an Assistant Professor of Emergency Medicine at the Keck School of Medicine of University of Southern California and Associate Director of the Emergency Medical Services Fellowship.

As the DEM’s first ACGME-accredited fellow, he helped develop and implement the new 9-1-1 Los Angeles Tiered Dispatch System and later several other novel models of prehospital care, including: the Advanced Practice Response and Sober Unit programs, state-sponsored pilot programs for paramedic-initiated alterative destination transport, and 9-1-1 based telemedicine. His research is focuses on cardiac arrest, bystander response, mobile integrated health care in the City of Los Angeles.

Dr. Sanko is a member of the Los Angeles County EMS Agency Medical Advisory Council, Chair of the LAC+USC CPR Committee and DHS Inpatient Resuscitation Committee, and he has served on national committees for the American College of Emergency Physicians and National Association of EMS Physicians. He completed both his residency training in Emergency Medicine and fellowship in Emergency Medical Services at Los Angeles County/University of Southern California Medical Center.

Dr. Sanko has published over 40 peer-reviewed abstracts, articles, book chapters, and translations, and has lectured in the US and South America on various EMS topics.

• A Novel Algorithm for Improving the Prehospital Diagnostic Accuracy of ST-Segment Elevation Myocardial Infarction Prehosp Disaster Med. 2024 Feb; 39(1):37-44. . View in PubMed
• Association between a Post-Resuscitation Care Bundle and the Odds of Field Rearrest after Successful Resuscitation from Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest: A Pre/Post Study Prehosp Emerg Care. 2024; 28(1):98-106. . View in PubMed
• Older Adult Frequent 9-1-1 Callers for Emergency Medical Services in a Large Metropolitan City: Individual- and System-Level Considerations J Emerg Med. 2023 12; 65(6):e522-e530. . View in PubMed
• West J Emerg Med. 2023 09; 24(5):831-838. . View in PubMed
• Implementation of a regional extracorporeal membrane oxygenation program for refractory ventricular fibrillation out-of-hospital cardiac arrest Resuscitation. 2023 06; 187:109711. . View in PubMed
• Prehospital Predictors of Atypical STEMI Symptoms Prehosp Emerg Care. 2022 Nov-Dec; 26(6):756-763. . View in PubMed
• Cognitive load during training for out-of-department emergency responses AEM Educ Train. 2022 Jun; 6(3):e10742. . View in PubMed
• Use of Naloxone in 9-1-1 Patients without Respiratory Depression in Los Angeles County, California (USA) Prehosp Disaster Med. 2021 Oct; 36(5):543-546. . View in PubMed
• Emergency Medical Services Utilization by Homeless Patients Prehosp Emerg Care. 2021 May-Jun; 25(3):333-340. . View in PubMed
• Spatiotemporal analysis of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest in the City of Los Angeles, 2011-2019 Resuscitation. 2021 08; 165:110-118. . View in PubMed
• Comparison of Emergency Medical Dispatch Systems for Performance of Telecommunicator-Assisted Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation Among 9-1-1 Callers With Limited English Proficiency JAMA Netw Open. 2021 06 01; 4(6):e216827. . View in PubMed
• Advanced Practice Providers in the Field: Implementation of the Los Angeles Fire Department Advanced Provider Response Unit Prehosp Emerg Care. 2020 Sep-Oct; 24(5):693-703. . View in PubMed
• Effect of New 9-1-1 System on Efficiency of Initial Resource Assignment Prehosp Emerg Care. 2020 Sep-Oct; 24(5):634-643. . View in PubMed
• Impact of a New 9-1-1 Dispatch System on Call-Processing Times for Time-Critical Emergencies in the City of Los Angeles Prehosp Emerg Care. 2020 Jul-Aug; 24(4):537-543. . View in PubMed
• Prime the Line! A Case Report of Air Embolism from a Peripheral IV Line in the Field Prehosp Emerg Care. 2020 Jul-Aug; 24(4):576-579. . View in PubMed
• Implementation of the Los Angeles Tiered Dispatch System is associated with an increase in telecommunicator-assisted CPR Resuscitation. 2020 10; 155:74-81. . View in PubMed
• Safety of Tiered-Dispatch for 911 Calls for Abdominal Pain West J Emerg Med. 2019 Oct 17; 20(6):957-961. . View in PubMed
• The Digital EMS California Academy of Learning: One State’s Innovative Approach to EMS Fellow Education AEM Educ Train. 2019 Jan; 3(1):96-99. . View in PubMed
• The Critical Role of Dispatch Cardiol Clin. 2018 Aug; 36(3):343-350. . View in PubMed
• Causes of Prehospital Misinterpretations of ST Elevation Myocardial Infarction Prehosp Emerg Care. 2017 May-Jun; 21(3):283-290. . View in PubMed
• Impact of the Use of Regional Poison Control Centers in an Urban EMS Dispatch System J Med Toxicol. 2017 03; 13(1):47-51. . View in PubMed
• A New Tradition: Nurse practitioner unit helps LA. Fire Department meet increased demand. JEMS. 2017 02; 42(2):59-62. . View in PubMed
• Assessing the Risk of Prehospital Administration of Naloxone with Subsequent Refusal of Care Prehosp Emerg Care. 2016 Sep-Oct; 20(5):566-9. . View in PubMed
• Interfacility Transports Utilizing the 9-1-1 Emergency Medical Services System Prehosp Emerg Care. 2015; 19(4):490-5. . View in PubMed
• PTEN, DMBT1, and p16 alterations in diffusely infiltrating astrocytomas Int J Oncol. 2002 Sep; 21(3):667-74. . View in PubMed

• Demetriades, Demetrios
• Inaba, Kenji
• Abramson, Tiffany
• Burke, Rita
• Sanossian, Nerses